The Void
by rasz1
Summary: After securing the Morphling's aid in their battles, the Radiant forces now need to press their advantage, though Kaeldr's intervention might have proven to be a chaotic factor, as a rift in space and time was caused by his immense power and things alien to this world might walk in. Second part of a planned trilogy. Rated Teen for violence.
1. Chapter 1

"Be careful, you worm!"

The orders were coming from a beautiful, to the point of unnaturally captivating woman, with long black hair and purple skin, who was being attended to her wounds by a gaunt, misshapen male creature. The difference between the perfection that made the woman and the wretched man who knelt before her, carefully applying some strange ointments to the open flesh of the woman was somewhat unnerving. She was clearly in pain, and the sticky potion that he was dropping on her skin burned, until she snapped and threw an inhumane slap at his face, forcing him to the floor at her feet, and breathing heavily she screamed.

"What the hell are you using to treat these wounds?! That's impossible to stand!"

The creature grasped at the high heel boots of the woman to try to get up and looked at her and pleaded "Akasha, Queen of Pain, these ancient recipes that do work on demons and provide accelerated healing. It needs burn to seal away wound!"

Akasha watched from above at the doctor. Zharvakkowas a well know Witch Doctor, one of very few that had not been a sham, and he was terrifyingly effective at what he did. He was known to curse - Maledict, he used to said - entire armies, weakening them and making them relive the pain for days afterwards, completely turning battles around, but he was also a powerful healer, and had an endless supply of recipes for making basically anything that had a mind and moved forward keep at it until the battle was over. But he was also one of the most repulsive lieutenants of the Dire Legion, and his meek attitude was irritating, more so given the ridiculous power he commanded. In a moment of rage, she stomped on his left hand angrily, to which he responded opening his enormous right hand and grabbed her entire waist, pressing on the wound, which made her scream in pain as he whimpered.

Surprised, she teleported to one of the enormous windows of the room, and stood there, doubled in pain as the Witch Doctor grabbed his hand and dropped more ointment on his hand, marked with the sole and the heel of the succubus, as she could focus her rage on any part of her body, often could burn the skins of the people she touched. He seemed out of himself, and only then she noticed a tiny rivulet of blood coming out of his ears.

"I am sorry Queen of Pain, I am terribly sorry" he whispered again, several times.

"I told you to be careful, Zharvakko"

"I know, Queen of Pain, I am sorry" he asked again.

She jumped down, and she did noticed her wounds, still burning, were closing down. She didn't feel any regret, nor she felt any sympathy towards Zharvakko, but she pitied him. He was a strange creature, and he commanded a great power, but he was fanatically loyal to the Dire Legion, and knew no bounds to honor the chaotic legion, and was one of the few in the army that she had no supernatural control over: instead, he choose to serve her the same way he observed the rest of the lieutenants did: like a slave.

It was an enigmatic figure. She took his chin and made him look at her with his iris less eyes, a vacuous sight that gave away absolutely nothing. Still, it was a interesting slave, one that submit himself out volunteering. Some interesting ideas as well, were forming on her mind, but the door opened rather violently, revealing the enormous build of Nesajj, the Chaos Knight, and the de facto leader of the Dire Legion, who calmly interrupted the scene.

"I hope you realize you failed, Akasha"

As usual, simple words. Nesajj was a man of few. Akasha pushed the Witch Doctor away, and walked with pride towards the Chaos Knight and planted her finger on his gigantic chest as she said with an impertinent tone "I am not a scout, Nesajj, and I did not know the Ursine Warrior would be there, and the Morphling's allegiance was probably determined by your friend Kaeldr, who is the most aggressive ancient abomination i've ever met and did a lot more harm than good, so quit bugging me, this isn't my damn fault!"

It took only a nanosecond for Akasha to realize Nesajj had taken her hand and she could not escape his grasp. She rose her sight and could feel the pressure on her fist cracking slowly her bones, and Nesajj threw her body against a wall and closed in "Do not raise your tone against me, succubus. I am not one of your slaves. You know exactly what I want and why you want me on your side."

Though the pain was, for a part, difficult to endure, Akasha prided herself on enjoying such small pleasures. She smiled and said "Ezalor isn't going to come out and wait for you to destroy him. You also want me on your side".

Nesajj grew tired and closed his fist tighter, breaking the bones and causing the succubus to whimper, to which he replied covering her mouth with his mouth, and the permanent river of matter than flew upwards from below his helmet began to flow violently, something that always signaled he was losing his - admitedly really short - temper. "Don't play with me, Akasha."

Akasha felt the temperature drop, and she supposed it was because of the pain on her hand and she was fading away, to which she smiled, but she realized there was another person - or rather, being - on the room, as the frightening icy formation that was the Ancient Apparition floated into her view. "Do not pressume to know everything there is to know, Queen of Pain" its voice quaked the room "There is a lot more to the Chaos Knight and the Keeper of the Light and there is nothing to do until Io and Enigma meet again. And then, oblivion."

Nesajj let go of the succubus, who had to press against the wall to avoid falling down, as the Witch Doctor held her to help her sit down and began to carefully examine the broken hand, as Akasha could not stop watching deep into the eyes of the Ancient Apparition, terrified by the horrors that deep inside those eyes festered. Nesajj just sighed, and opened the door, as an average looking man with long blond hair and a pointed nose, wearing an elaborate red cape and hood entered, and greeted him respectfully, though Kaeldr and the man ignored each other.

"Fortunately, Harbringer, and Visage were more successful and we have an important ally, Akasha." The voice of the Chaos Knight brought her back into reality, and she turned to the man, who let his hood down, revealing a solidly built, handsome and surprisingly calm man on his early forties, with brilliant white eyes, who greeted her lowering his head slightly. "Akasha, I want you to meet the Invoker."


	2. Chapter 2

It was rare to watch the secretive, reclusive Templar Assassin without her mask, showing emotions or being affectionate with anyone, even greeting friends with anything more than a quick hand shake, but the dark haired elf was holding onto the enormous Ursa Warrior as if the bear was her pet, as the cold night had forced her to look for something warm to finally find sleep. The bear didn't mind, and probably did not even notice, and it was also somewhat bizarre the bloodthirsty warrior had let someone use him as a pillow, but no one was going to point it out at him. She had let her side sleeve and her mask off, and she began to regain consciousness slowly as the rays of the sun began to shower her, comforting her. But something was off, and she realized she wasn't at the valley any more.

Lanaya woke up inside the Radiant base, still with Ulfsaar and the Morphling on her side, the latter instantly becoming active and doing quick rounds around its two allies, while Ulfsaar took a few minutes to wake up and become aware of the fact they weren't at Silverglade anymore. He then began to laugh and growled "EZALOR! SHOW YOURSELF!".

Lanaya sighed and quickly put on her mask, and reached at the Morphling, as she sensed the elemental was agitated, and she buried her hand into the side of it, realizing it was indeed entirely liquid, but the elemental turned around and moved closer, probably confused, until Ezalor appeared from the door "Lanaya, Ulfsaar, Morphling." he greeted them, and she relaxed, the Morphling doing exactly the same. Ezalor was an extremely old looking man, slightly aloof and somehow not tied to the same reality, with long beard and hair, dressed in white robes that matched his hair and hat. He had a frail voice, and spoke with calm authority, and was also an incredibly powerful magician, a brilliant strategist, and the leader of the Radiant Army, and icon in the battle against the diabolic Dire Legion. What most people did not know, was that Ezalor was Order incarnate, one of the Primordials, forces of the universe that took an interest for some reason in the Stones. Nobody did know why they did, but nobody asked.

Ezalor had some sort of history with his long-standing enemy, Nesajj, who was the embodiment of Chaos, and who had been chasing him through realities for aeons untold, since the beginning of time, and twice they had met on the battlefield, twice it ended in a draw. Ulfsaar was one of the very few who had seen him revel in battle, summoning armies of spirits that devastated entire armies, and was in turn one of Ezalor's most trusted warriors.

"You could have brought us back somewhere more familiar, Ezalor" the bear greeted the wizard, and laughed.

Ezalor didn't reply with laughter - despite having a surprisingly young sense of humour and being a charming person, he rarely laughed - but was stern "I had no time for preparations, Ulfsaar. Kaeldr came back, I could see."

"Yes, Keeper" said Lanaya, quickly "and it is a terrible opponent"

"You don't know even half of it, Templar. Allow me please. The Kaeldr you see here is but a fraction of the real one. Kaeldr is a being almost as old as I am, which has been bidding its time ever since to end reality. I am profoundly disappointed that Nesajj has decided to ally with such an abomination and I ignore his real plans. However, what we see here is just a reflection of Kaeldr, projected through dimensions. It's virtually impossible to destroy it, and that is why I counted on the frozen plains to contain him... but I should have known Nesajj could find him."

Lanaya looked at the Morphling, who in turn transformed into a copy of the Templar, and said "But we've found the Morphling, Keeper of the Light...".

The old man smiled, and his face softened, and said "Yes, my beautiful assassin, the Morphling choose us and it is a valuable asset. And that is why there is still hope. I am deeply sorry for the loss of the Shadow Shaman, the Rock Giant and the Crystal Maiden, as I am for every dead in our army, but I understand both the Skeleton King, the Demon Witch, the Axe, and the Faceless Void were killed. Am I correct?"

"Yes, Ezalor we took them down. I wouldn't count the Faceless Void or the Skeleton King out yet" answered Ulfsaar.

"Me neither, friend of mine, but I can assure you we can forget about them for now. There are more important things at hand. We need to go back to the forest. Kaeldr's unnatural cold ripped apart the fabric of reality. The is a void in the valley. We need to find out what it's going on there." The magician then stroked his beard, and continued "There is something else."

Lanaya always dreaded when Ezalor did that. He always had something in mind she'd rather not deal with when he did it.

"Io contacted me. The void created might have opened up a rift between the planes and bring in things that should have stayed out of this conflict. We need to close it, or the consequences might be disastrous"

There was a silence in the room, as if everyone knew that it was already the case. Lanaya was the first to speak.

"Well, that does it. Whatever it is, we can deal with it. I have a feeling we have the upper hand."

"You are, probably, wrong, dear. Don't be silly."

The voice came from outside the room. It was a disjointed, inhuman voice, that seemed to travel around them, and come back to the door.

"Rubick" she sighed. As if there wasn't enough to dread with the situation.

Indeed, the Grand Magus appeared and entered the room, an oddly dressed man with a mask and a tattered cape, wearing sandals and a wicked staff, and an uncomfortable ally. Rubick was the only surviving magus in the world, a powerful mage capable of stealing the power of his enemies and use it against them. It was a rare gift, and unwieldy weapon, but he was a man of great intellect and ingenuity, a creative mind capable of the most brilliant strategies. He was also, in the mind of many of his own allies, a sociopath, a character fond of destruction and death, and incapable of knowing when enough was enough.

"You don't seem to appreciate my presence, here, Templar."

"I dislike your pessimism. We found the Morphling, something, which, if you haven't realized yet, managed to fend off Kaeldr, and killed the Faceless Void. I say we do have an advantage."

Rubick laughed and the Morphling took his form and imitated his laugh "As usual, your ignorance threatens your well being, Templar. As much as a great warrior you are, you leave a lot to be desired as an scholar."

Rubick always had a way to rub her off the wrong way. The psionic blades exploded loudly on her hands and she gritted her teeth "You are looking for something you haven't lost, Rubick"

Ezalor walked in between the two, and shouted "Enough you two! I don't want your petty infighting jeopardizing this. Rubick, be respectful! And Lanaya, while I do admire your optimism, we do not know if something's already in. So calm down you two and listen!"

Rubick laughed again and said "I am not looking for trouble. I am only pointing out the obvious, Keeper of the Light. So please, enlighten us."

Ezalor sighed again, and, somewhat irritated, said "You two better get along. You will go to the forest to find out if something has indeed snuck in, and Rubick, you need to close down that rift, and Lanaya, I need you to make sure he does it safely. Uflsaar and the Morphling will go with you. And let's hope Io is up to help. I am not sure, but I hope he feels like finally showing up."


	3. Chapter 3

The Invoker was an imposing sight, and was completely out of control for Akasha. He stood as a beacon of magic, strongly giving away the aura of wizardry around him which made her feel as if he could barely contain all of his power. Three balls of energy constantly flew around him, each no bigger than his fists, one blue, one white and one yellow, and he seemed to be able to control them. She felt slightly intimidated, even more now that the two monsters that had brought him here were had flown in inside the room, Harbringer and Visage.

Harbringer was the name of the Outworld Destroyer, a frightening creature that had one day appeared in the base, asking for destruction. He was a large creature with the lower body of a black lion, and the upper body was somewhat human, except for the large wings and the skin, which seemed to be made of some sort of crystalline stone, which glowed brightly according to his actions. He had a wand, some sort of weapon where he could direct powerful blasts of energy at his opponents. He was a extremely alien being, and he knew the secrets of the universe very few could even stand to gain without going insane from the revelations.

Visage was instead rumored to be the bound form of the eternal evil spirit Necro'lic, and he himself claimed it to be the truth. It was an enormous ethereal gargoyle, capable of summoning stone gargoyles at will to attack his enemies, and was a powerful fighter. He rarely left the walls of the base, guarding it as he guarded the Narrow Maze, preventing the souls of the damned from escaping their punishment. Nobody knew what he wanted from this war, but nobody dared ask.

None of them could be persuaded by Akasha, and it was unnerving to her. Still, she forced herself to find composure, and asked "What is this, Nesajj?"

Instead, the Invoker spoke "Queen of Pain, I salute and adore you." And he paid respects to her, kneeling in front of her for a second. Taken aback by the sudden act, she nodded at him.

"I understand Ezalor has enlisted the aid of the Grand Magus to his side. And I have come to face him at last."

There was something Akasha couldn't understand of all this. And she decided to act. "Who are you, Invoker?"

Harbringer laughed and looked at Visage, while the Invoker smirked "I am ancient, Queen of Pain.

I am older than the land. I am the land. In times long ago forgotten, I was born and I attained power greater than any of my kindred mages. I was able to acquire the most powerful spells in history and I can take control of any of them at any time. I am the alpha, Queen of Pain. I exist since times even you might not know of. And I realized there was more than what petty knowledge my peer sought of. My prodigious memory allows me to hold on to the most dangerous magics and wield them. I am the Invoker."

Akasha just then realized she was talking to the most powerful human-born magician, a tale, a rumour of immortals that existed to this day until they were reduced to nothing but ashes, sorcerers that managed to get a hold of eternal life, and an eternal life of power in their hands. She felt a shiver on her back, and realized why Harbringer was laughing. She looked at him, who announced "How little you know, Queen of Pain? How meaningless you feel now?"

That damned chimera always bothered her. For once, she was not the leader of the group, for that she was sure.

"Akasha, You will guide the Invoker and our two allies back into Silverglade. Kaeldr made something happen in there. "

As usual, short Outworld Destroyed moved forward, and carried the succubus to his back, allowing her to ride him for the moment. Visage, instead, started flying, and grabbed the Invoker, who allowed him to carry him to the forest. The four of them disappeared from the window into the black night, and Nesajj was left alone with his thoughts.

"Let's hope this time they do arrive first and that Black Arachnia did her job..."


	4. Chapter 4

The recent events at the forest had disturbed the peace and the war had grown in intensity. The battlefield was an enormous painting of destruction, as the grunts and minor mages that made the bulk of the Radiant and Dire forces collided at the skirts of the Silent mountain. The four Radiant lieutenants stood atop the makeshift command headquarters, a few miles away from the valley, as they sighted the war. Never one to shy away from battle, the Templar Assassin decided to intervene, quickly followed by Ufsaar, while the Morphling and the Grand Magus elected to stay behind, deciding to defend the tower that was being built to assist into the claiming of the territory.

Lanaya ran across the battlefield like a thunderbolt, blasting enemies left and right with skill beyond her years, and raising her shield to avoid getting overwhelmed. The psionic blades had grown with her experience, and the blasts went through her victims, hitting the ones behind them. The rank and file soldiers, the cannon fodder, cheered on her, and she smirked, while she went on with her work. She sent a powerful blast at a jumping enemy, and kicked a wizard who didn't manage to escape in time, tripping him and stepping fiercely on his head, finishing the job with a psionic blast to his chest. She enjoyed the battle, and she was grateful this was, so far, not a battle, but a massacre.

She then spotted something different on the battlefield. Amongst the - more or less - demihuman Dire Forces, something stood up on the battlefield. A gargantuan pair directed the evil forces as they marched on, two wildly different creatures. One of them was an impossibly tall and gaunt figure, wearing the tattered remains of an armour, walking with difficulty but swiftly towards the base, while the other was a hugely obese, an obscene mockery of a man, a stitched on creature made from the remains of several dead bodies, carrying a cleaver on his right hand and a hook on his left one.

She felt the heavy breathing of the bear behind her, who announced "This is why I never believe they are gone for sure. That's the Butcher and the Undying."

Both were incredibly imposing physically despite their mismatched physiques, but the Butcher seemed to carry the command word, as he growled and the entire Dire army responded with war cries, and the attack rose in intensity. The Undying also replied and on his word two monoliths, two unholy tombstones rose from the ground, from where dozens of zombies, mauled and deformed, poured into the battlefield, swarming the ground and attacking the Radiant. Despite most of them lacking legs or some sort of locomotion, they seemed to be falling into some sort of crazy hunger, and they reached the Ursine Warrior and the Templar Assassin way quicker than expected.

Lanaya worked to get the undead out of her zone of comfort, and vaguely managed to watch the Butcher doing some motions with his hands, and suddenly she felt a sharp pain on her left leg, and was violently pulled away right into the enemies territory.

"LANAYA!" was all Ufsaar could scream as he watched his ally get yanked away from him. He decided to charge at them, running as fast as he could through the throng of warriors, slashing his way to reach the two undead generals. Lanaya flew across the battlefield, completely disoriented, though she could make out two figures, one teleporting around the battlefield, and the other moving quickly, almost invisible, towards the two monsters.

The Butcher had a name, and it was Pudge. He growled it as he screamed "GET OVER HERE!" and catch the Templar Assassin by the waist, prepared to slash her open, but, suddenly, an enormous shuriken pierced and penetrated the skin of his arm, forcing him to drop his prize, still hooked by the leg, then a skilful figure slashed the Butcher on his chest, and cut the chain that held the hook. Then he appeared again, and powerfully kicked the abomination in the face, making it tumble back, and appeared in front of the still stunned Lanaya.

"High Templar, are you okay? We need to get you back to the HQ"

She tried to focus on the man who knelt next to her, and whispered "Magina?"

"Yes, High Templar, it's me. Can you walk?"

"I can't really feel my left leg, what is going on?"

In the meantime, it took a few moments for Dirge, the Undying to realize what was going. He was a slow thinker nowadays, a personification of hunger, a towering ghoul, always in famine, always wanting to consume. He couldn't understand why Pudge had fallen over, but he could understand that those two small creatures were his enemies, and he decided to attack. However, he felt a sharp cut on his chest that pushed him back, and a shuriken was stuck on his face. As he pulled it back, he watched in front of him, between him and the two prone creatures, was a third creature, a furry humanoid with a mask, carrying two blades, and that creature he knew. It was the Gondar, Bounty Hunter, one of his most hated enemies. They had met before, several times, and while he was able to fend him off rather easily, he could never capture him. It was irritating and he felt he was failing the Dead God every time a victim could escape. So he attacked, but Gondar was able to avoid his powerful strikes.

"Get her out of here, Magina! Now! I will distract him!" He shouted in between jumps, hoping to lead Dirge away from the two allies.

"Okay, Gondar, be careful!"

"Don't be silly, Anti-Mage!" and he smiled. He was sure he could defeat the Undying, but it would be a long battle, and he couldn't afford to have one right now. He jumped and run across the back of the zombie, and took several hits at its head, forcing it back, trying to avoid getting grabbed. The Undying, however, threw himself against a tree, dropping the Bounty hunter down, and managed to hit him squarely in the chest. The smaller zombies were swarming the ground, and several managed to hold onto Gondar, who had to swiftly slice and dice his way out of a very premature grave.

He turned around and watched Magina slash away at the arm of the Butcher, who had managed to get a hold of the chain, and pulled the hook out of the leg of the Templar Assassin, which made her cry out in pain. He managed to watch them run away, and he then held off a few more zombies, as he dropped a smoke bomb to the ground, promptly disappearing from sight.

* * *

The Butcher watched his prey run away, and was angry at the matter. He was also angry at Dirge for not reacting quickly enough, but he was clear the Undying was a mobile siege weapon, not a quick thinking warrior. He grabbed the hook and tied the chain again, and looked around. There was not a quick target. Flustered he walked back, and decided to find a better position, because somehow he was going to catch those two squishy and sneaky bastards.

* * *

Ufsaar couldn't see where he was headed. He just desperately tried to open a path over the seemingly never ending stream of zombies and warriors, trying to find a way to reach Lanaya. He could only watch the pale zombie grabbing his allies and throwing them around, occasionally doing the same to his own forces. The Undying was a frightening sight, a weapon of mass destruction that barely distinguished what it was extinguishing: death was his only target. He had lost sight of Lanaya or the Butcher, and feared the worst. However, he decided his best course of action was to help turn the tide of battle, and that meant facing that monster.

However, a small, furry humanoid, somehow a freaky mix of a human and a squirrel, appeared in front of him, and quickly told him "You will not kill him before he kills you. Turn back. Let's regroup. There is more to this than the Undying and the Butcher". The Bounty Hunter then disappeared just as he had appeared, and Ufsaar decided to pull back, realizing he was alone in the battle against it.

* * *

"Magina. I never thought I would see you again. More like I didn't really wanted to see you again." said, sarcastically, Rubick, as the monk jumped inside the tent and carefully put Lanaya in the floor, as he sent a piercing gaze at Rubick.

"I wished you would have gotten yourself killed, but we need your help right now, Rubick." he said, calling for him. The Grand Magus obliged and reached the Templar Assassin, and examined her leg. The muscle had been torn apart, and no magic cure would be enough for her to keep going on today.

"I think we will have to leave her here, Magina." his tone was notably more serious than before "The wound is really brutal and we can't force her to keep going, or she might as well kiss her leg goodbye."

The Anti-Mage, a slim but muscular fighter, a monk who had swore to kill all the magic users in the world, whose goals had to change due to the war, was a practical thinker, and shoot a question "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"I thought you were going to ask why were you fighting at the border of the forest, instead."

"Will you ever be somewhat cooperative instead of trying incredibly hard to outwit everyone else in the world?"

After a short laugh, Rubick asked "Haven't I already?"

"Does it have to do with the void?"

"Maybe. Maybe this is all about that stupid rift. Maybe violence calls for violence and you can guess there was violence for the first time in I don't know how many years. What do you really expect to get for an answer?"

The monk rose to his feet, and confronted the Grand Magus "I just want you to tell me if there is a dimensional void in the forest and the battle waved this way because of it"

"Maybe. Who can say?"

"You're lucky Ezalor has so much faith in your abilities, Magus"

"_Grand_ Magus, Antimage"

Fortunately for Rubick, Magina did not hear that last line. He was startled by a huge crashing noise outside, and he looked out of the window. "I shouldn't have accepted this goddamn advance. Rubick, take care of her, and join us outside. We have company."


	5. Chapter 5

Landing heavily on the middle of the battlefield, Harbringer pointed his scepter at the astonished Radiant forces. He then laughed loudly, quaking the entire ground, and charged at his enemies, shooting enormous blasts of energy at the helpless warriors in front of him, who vanished and turned into ashes if they were simply torn apart by the enormous magic of the Outworld Destroyer. He walked without any hurry, trampling whomever tried to stand on his way, as, over him, Visage flew around, laying death with his powerful otherworldly breath, which acted as fiery acid that dissolves anyone caught y it. The pair of foreign monsters were, by themselves, changing the course of battle, while the Undying's zombies kept pushing the Radiant back.

Behind them, soundly satisfied, the Queen of Pain enjoyed the scene, while the Invoker to her side had a completely blank stare. She looked at him and asked "Do you plan just to watch? I don't even know what you can do."

He looked at her, and apologized "I am sorry, my Queen. I didn't meant to hide my abilities. Perhaps I can offer you a bit of a show, to sate your curiosity."

Confused, she observed how the Invoker's three energy balls that constantly surrounded him turned into red, and began to accelerate around him. She could swear she saw him smirking, as he started to recite an enchantment in some sort of ancient tongue she could not recognize. He began to wave his arms, and finally, he ended his sorcery, his voice resonating through the entire forest, enough to shake the birds left away.

For a few seconds, there was a deadly silence as no one really dared to move. Visage, though had been gone and could not be found, and, once again laughing, Harbringer took flying again, as a shadow took over the entire battlefield. Akasha thought 'impressive' though it was hardly such a great feat... until she could behold a lava stone, still burning hot, falling from the sky, and smashing the ground in a devastating crash, putting the whole battle into a halt.

Mouth open, she muttered "what in the name of..."

And he, with a different tone, replied "Forget me not, Queen of Pain."

Reluctantly, she said slowly "I think I might have gotten the wrong end of you".

Smiling, he replied "Oh no, you got the good end."

Suddenly, off his body, a violent stream of energy was pulled, and traveled an unthinkable speed towards the other end of the battlefield, where the Radiant Battlefield was located. Over the wreckage, a new shadow began to form and cover the entire field, and, growling, the Invoker began to make new motions, thought Akasha could tell he was in a hurry, until she looked up to watch a second ball of lava, falling quickly directed at them.

The Invoker rose up his arm, and began to chant a new incantation, his energy balls turning into a bright white, and turning at extreme velocity around him, he then crouched, and sent a crescent shaped blast of wind energy, which flew towards the landing place of the faux-meteor, hitting it just as it smashed down, breaking it into millions of pieces, several flying at the two Dire commander's position, though they missed the magician and the succubus teleported away just in time.

"SO YOU DECIDED TO SHOW UP AGAIN, ARSENAL MAGUS"

His teeth clenched, the Invoker was showing intense anger. The voice was distorted, sickly, and overwhelming. With the same power, he answered "SHOW YOURSELF, RUBICK, YOU KNOW WHO I AM LOOKING FOR".

The frail looking, masked mage walked without much care through the dead bodies of the fallen, without any haste, his dreadful head covered but the Invoker could tell he was smiling, as he himself was. "Finally, Rubick. We meet again."

The Grand Magus laughed, his body contorting and shaking "I can tell you enjoyed our last encounter, Arsenal Magus", and he continued walking carelessly, even passing next to the clueless Dirge, who was still trying to process what was going on. The Invoker, himself, walked down from the tower he was, to meet his adversary.

"It's been a while Rubick. Your father stopped us that one time. Now he's long gone."

Rubbing his neck, Rubick planted his staff on the ground "You had luck that one time, Arsenal Magus. You know how this goes. You can't outspell me. At all. And I will always find a way."

"It must be sad to be an imitation all the time, Rubick."

"I am an improvement"

"That's a matter of opinion"

* * *

While the two magicians confronted each other, Dirge, the Undying, was unsure about how to proceed. The two armies were decimated, and he wasn't fond of fighting wizards. Pudge had disappeared, and he had no targets. The colossal zombie stood confused, and started to walk towards the Radiant base, where a half built tower began shooting at him bright rays of energy, hitting him squarely on the chest. Still, he reached it, and grabbed it, pushing with all of his considerable strength, toppling the crude structure down. The army of zombies walked or crawled around him, sharing the confusion but alert to any opponent that might attack. He surveyed the destruction, and pressed forward, until he felt a sharp metal piercing his chest. He looked down to find one of the raw looking shurikens he had come to hate from Gondar, the furry enemy he had faced the last few hours. He pulled it out, and threw it to the floor, but a second time he felt a slash, more metal breaking into his body. He knew it was him, but he could not locate him.

Following their master's aroused curiosity, the crawling zombies became agitated, and began to be his new eyes, searching for the opponent. They finally caught him, but he nimbly slashed away at the head of the towering monster, missing for a few inches but drawing blood, unfortunately he had to fade away immediately before he could be catch. A second figure appeared on his back, and it was Magina, the other nuisance, who slashed away at his shoulder hoping to cut away his arm, knowing a war of attrition was pointless against a creature who felt absolutely no pain, failing but managing to teleport away.

"YOU KNOW THIS IS NOT GOING TO WORK, BUGGERS"

And he was right. The two warriors then appeared in front of him, several meters away from the swarming zombies, both weary from the long fight. They would have to use brute force and speed to dismember him, but the pool of writhing arms that were the servants of the Undying was a problem.

"We will have to flank him, Gondar"

"You need to distract him. I will open up a path and try to take him away from the zombies"

Magina wasn't fond of the plan. If he failed he would be eaten alive by the dozens of creeping horrors. Still, he trusted the Bounty Hunter's precise ability, so he nodded, and teleported away, while Gondar disappeared from sight. Dirge wasn't as easily confounded, and he opened up his arms, catching the Anti-mage by the throat in mid air as he prepared to slash away at him with his blades. However, Gondar appeared just behind him, throwing a powerful hit at his back, making him lose his grip on the monk, and turning around to pursue him, while the mass of undead tried to reach the Anti-Mage, who promptly defended himself, cutting away several zombies and teleporting to higher ground.

Gondar ran away, trying to turn the mass into two enemies, facing Dirge on his own while Anti-Mage could dwindle the numbers of zombies by himself, hopefully in time to assist him facing the goliath, but he then felt a sudden weakness on his legs, and he tripped and crashed against a tree. He began coughing violently, pain coming through his throat, and the air began to feel heavy to breathe. He turned around, hoping he had put enough distance between him and the undead abomination but Dirge was surprisingly fast and had kept himself at less than ten meters behind him. Gondar tried to drop a smoke bomb to disappear and find time to escape but Dirge grabbed his arm preventing him from doing so.

_It's okay, I've been in worse situations, _he thought to himself, and threw his wrist mounted sword at the arm, but Dirge's fist found his face before he could connect. Just in time though, he managed to put the same sword in the way as Dirge threw a second, potentially knocking out punch , and the undead arms was neatly cut in half up to the wrist, which allowed the Bounty hunter to escape into the shadows to catch his breath, as the Undying examined his damaged hand. Moved by something else than muscles - as not even himself remembered how was he created, though rumors abounded about him being a reanimated corpse of an ancient race of giants - the hand was still operational, though he rationalized it might not be as useful as a weapon as he used to. Still, he could smell the stench of death that now clinged to the Bounty Hunter, and it would only be a matter of time before he could find him and finally offer him to the Dead God. And the Dead God was hungry.


	6. Chapter 6

Gondar felt like he carried an enormous weight on his back, his lungs worked heavily to breathe and his legs were failing him. The Undying had this effect every once in awhile, he created some sort of aura that weakened everything living around him, and was one of the reasons why annihilating him was such a difficult task even to him, the feared Bounty Hunter. He generally won the upper hand on their battles, but the Undying kept going, never backing away from his attack, he felt no pain, and he regularly lost a limb or was mangled, but he never went back to the dead hell Gondar supposed he was from. Instead, he rose again and eventually was whole and sound, ready for battle. A formidable opponent, definitely, a worthy prey, but also one that was wearing him out.

He laid down for a few seconds, and ran away into the woods seeking for a good hiding place, though he was aware it would not last long. He wasn't even sure if the Undying's eyes worked, he still seemed to find him. He could only believe it was some sort of unique predatory instinct, and that made the Undying all the more annoying to deal with. He also had to keep in mind Dirge wasn't the only threat: there were an extraordinary number of notable faces arriving to battle, and he was particularly disturbed by the arrival of Outworld Destroyer, one of the Dire Legion most powerful warriors, who he had battled before and while he was able to escape, he recognized he was out of his league in open battle.

Of course, that would mean nothing if he could isolate him. But how do you isolate a being capable of flying? By allowing him to fly, of course. But that'd be something to think about later. He sat down, trying to regain some breath, and the sounds of battle seemed so distant, so miserable. He'd never admit it, but being a bounty hunter was a lot easier when they weren't at war and he could just serve whoever paid him the most instead of trying to stay loyal. He had found valuable friends but if this war was over tomorrow, what could it be? _If I was sent to kill the Anti-Mage, would I?_ Being a bounty hunter had its perks but it also meant loneliness was something to be expected. He was used to it anyway.

But now he felt tired. And he was lying down to rest, as alert as always.

Until a low rumbling sound caught his attention. It probably had been there all the time but the wrath of battles hadn't allowed him to feel it. He got on all fours and crawled through the foliage looking for the source of the sound, as it shouldn't be very far. A brisk of uncomfortable wind got his hair, and suddenly he realized he probably was getting - again - into trouble. The air was moving the tree's branches, and a storm of fallen leaves made looking for *anything* difficult. Instead, he kept close to the ground, listening to the vibrations, trying to find a clue. Pressing his ear to the ground, the sound seemed to have no direction to come from. It was simply felt.

He finally rose to his feet, slightly flustered. He was used to experience weird things now, after all, but this was probably beyond weird. Weirder than anything else? How come now this sound was so _omnipresent_ you couldn't even try to figure out where it was coming from? He moved slowly through the forest, thinking quickly. Perhaps this was just another side effect of that damned Dirge's abilities to spread plague and despair and he was just imagining things. Perhaps he had taken one too many blows to the head and now he had permanently damaged his hearing. Given how hard he had been hit lately, it might not be that far fetched.

Still he refused to play like that.

He moved swiftly without making a sound, keeping his ears sharp and his sight at the edge. Driving his two blades, he parted plants apart, in order to move as undetected as possible. The wind had turned heavier, which was to his advantage after all. Made him harder to find. He began to move faster, almost running, following instinctively the leaves and branches as they flew violently towards the nearby lake.

He knew there was something there. Perhaps it was a pack of furbolgs. Maybe harpies hunting. Either way he needed to know. After all, he couldn't hide forever. He was just bidding his time until finding a way to get through Dirge. He just hoped his allies were doing their job properly.

Finally, he reached the glade. A small massacre had happened, and a group of impossible to recognize dead bodies laid at the shore of the lake. Puzzled, Gondar reached for the scene to investigate what could had caused this, but suddenly, a massive burst of pain exploded on his head, momentarily stunning him and stopping him dead on his tracks. He reached for his pocket to take out a smoke bomb, but a second burst made him drop the pellet to the ground. He turned around, his vision blurred by the pain and the storming winds, and realized he was being dragged down and attacked by six humanoid figures, small, while a seventh, much bigger one approached him ominously.

He slashed one of the homunculus, and turned around wildly to run away. However, an enormous hand grabbed him by the neck and rose him up the ground. The smell was impossible to mistake, it was Dirge, the Undying. He tried to slash his hand off to escape, but a third explosion of hurt broke off inside his head, and he dropped his blades to the ground, screaming in pain, and making his escape virtually impossible, as it was to escape the massive fist that crushed his head and blew his senses out.

* * *

Magina, Ulfsaar and the Morphling had a chance. The Dirge's contingent of zombies had died out at last, and only the Outworld Devourer, Visage and the Butcher were serious problems. The battle had basically reached a stalemate, and they could work together to bring their trio down. They had lost track of Rubick, and Lanaya was still out of it, so they would have to take their chances if they wanted to take over this territory and push them back. The rift could wait, and Gondar could be sent to scout and find it, and there was no better scout than him in the world.

A war roar came out from the Ursine warrior, and the three of them charged forward against the abominations. The response came deliberately, as the huge undead abomination started running at them, while the two winged beings took airborne.

In a blink of second, Magina disappeared and re-appeared taking Visage off the sky, to which two black rocky gargoyles answered by breaking out of the ground and grabbing Magina and dragging him down to the ground, forcing the Anti-Mage to crash down against the floor, while Visage spat black and blue balls of nether energy, raining attacks down towards the monk, who barely managed to teleport away from it. In the meantime, the Morphling turned into a solid column of water, crashing against the rising Devourer, whose immense physical strength was his sole salvation before being sent down from the sky. He responded, flinging bright blasts at the elemental, who easily avoided them, and tried to reach him on his own with its own torrential blasts. Ulfsaar and the Butcher, finally, met in a much less refined way, messily crashing against each other, making the entire ground shake, and began to struggle, until Ulfsaar managed to push Pudge away, to which the Butcher replied throwing his chain angrily, just missing the bear by inches.

The bear resumed his charge, but Pudge released a cloud of putrid smell, confusing and slowing the animalistic warrior's reflexes as he gripped him. The undead abomination then struck him with his butcher knife, throwing Ursa off balance, and buried his hook and chain on Ulfsaar's shoulder.

"NOW YOU CAN'T ESCAPE" laughed Pudge, as he expected the bear to struggle to get it off. Much to his surprise, the bear just looked at him, rage burning inside him.

"Who said I'd try to escape, you wretched monster?!" and the bear began to roar, before unleashing a furry of slashes at the Butcher, pulling him back when he got a bit too far away with the chain, before forcing it out when the beast finally fell.

The Butcher could only laugh. Pieces of skin, flesh and sutures fell off the build of the abomination, but the monster seemed unfazed. "HOW MANY PIECES OF MEAT YOU NEED TO SEE FALLING OFF BEFORE YOU REALIZE YOU CAN'T KILL WHAT EATS THE DEAD AND IT'S ALREADY DEAD, URSA?".

A genuine shiver of worry invaded Ulfsaar, until he realized "As many as you need to break apart, abomination" and he resumed his crazed slashes, trying to pry away the layers of rotten flesh and evade the constant strikes from the undead, until the butcher knife struck on his side, the strength of the monster throwing the bear a few meters back, crashing against an enormous tree. Pudge then threw his chain and hook again at the animal, barely missing as Ulfsaar ducked out of the way, hitting the tree and burying it on the trunk. He grunted loudly, and then began to pull the chain to throw down the plant against the bear, who once again jumped out of the way of the wooden pillar, which crashed with a tremendous, deafening voice, utterly destroying anything on its path, including several unlucky foot soldiers

The wake of the destruction caused by the fallen tree raised enough dust to turn the battlefield into a hazy landslide, obscuring the view of the undead behemoth. Pudge scanned the place, trying to locate his prey, to no avail, until he felt the sharp claw of the ursine warrior hit the left side of his face, piercing his eye and tearing the skin apart, making the monster tumble and blinding him briefly. The claw now hit the back of his head, pushing him down and throwing him to his knees. Finally, a third strike to the back of his neck severed his head, sending a blast of putrid blood and juices around, covering the weary Ulfsaar on the blood of his enemy.

* * *

Despite the apparent chaotic behaviour of the Morphling, it was pretty clear it knew what it was doing and the battle was taking place in a very calculated manner: Harbinger couldn't stray too far from the elemental in order to have a chance to hit it, inadvertently allowing himself to be herded around by his enemy. The monstrous chimera flew at deliberate speed, trying to keep at the same distance, however, painfully aware the Morphling was much faster than he himself was.

Turning himself in and out of a more water state, the Morphling was easily evading Harbinger's attacks, but it took it enough manoeuvring that it was virtually impossible to attack him. It could push him into a more closed down space, but it was a daring proposition: it was well known the power the Outworld Devourer wielded on his battle mace, and his enormous strength in hand to hand combat. Still, it was a better idea to pull him back, and trust the Anti-Mage and the Ursine Warrior to deal with their targets. Did Harbinger had the meanings to escape if the elemental managed to win the battle? Letting him get away could be a costly mistake.

Harbinger, an ancient being of almost infinite knowledge of the inner workings of the universe, falling into that trap was a laughable premise, but it was gambit he was playing. It could become a battle of attrition, but he knew he would need two or three hits at most to sent it out of combat. He had dealt with enough elementals to know that water elementals had enormous but limited energy they could quickly rebalance between attack and defence, a clever advantage when they needed to soak up damage or lay it down: and it was doubtful that the Morphling would risk weakening its defences to try and kill him faster.

It was a struggle between two ancient powers, to which the deceptively simple plans had a lot more background than it was apparent to the naked eye. None would ever tire, none would ever make a mistake: battles like these are meant to be eternal. Until Harbinger heard it, a faint, subtle but _omnipresent _rumble, a low humming that seemed to come from the thick of the forest. The tear? Was it this the time? It finally made him make a mistake.

In the flash of inspiration, the Outworld Devourer was pulled out of his moment of distraction by a powerful blast of rock solid water, and he lost control of his wings, falling fast towards the floor, where he was greeted by a geyser of freezing cold water, throwing him against a tree. The Morphling had catch the absent-mindedness on his eyes, and had used the second it had to attack, now that he was at the floor, he turned into a frightening wave, and advanced at enormous speed towards the chimera, who had turned up to his feet, and was holding his battle staff high up, and lowered it aiming at the elemental.

"ENOUGH WITH YOU" he shouted, the voice quaking the battlefield, and the elemental disappeared inside a sphere, resembling a small piece of outer space, a pocket dimension, and the Devourer took off without so much as a glance at the rift in reality he had caused and the place where he had sent the elemental who was so overconfident to think was about to kill him. Obviously, there were more important, pressing matters at hand.

* * *

Visage familiar were a serious problem for Magina, as he excelled in hand to hand combat, not against a an animated, flying gargoyle and two of its familiars trying to grapple him to keep him from getting to their master. He had already endured several hits to the body, fortunately, his natural resistance to magic, even whatever kind of magical projectiles did Visage breathed out was enough to avoid him losing the battle too soon. He couldn't blink often enough to escape the three enemies, so he had to resort to keep in the move, confuse the gargoyle, and find an opening. As for Visage, the monk was a fun distraction, a different target from the souls he used to trap inside the Narrow Maze. For some reason, Visage was confident about facing the Anti-mage., and he followed his opponent around, spitting balls of black magic, and guiding his familiar to close in on the Anti-mage, and push him around to find a good spot where he couldn't escape.

The teleporting abilities of his opponent were confusing, but he had realized the Anti-Mage couldn't really go all that far. Perhaps it was a good idea to spread his pair of familiars, and stay in between them to catch the unsuspecting monk.

Except it was clear he wasn't all that unsuspecting, and he was a master of the trickery. Impossible to catch. He barely appeared, and in the time he could be in range to attack him, he would just be gone. Visage had resolved to randomly shoot, which was an interesting way to narrow the path the monk could take, but it seemed unlikely to work for long.

Magina had been hatching a plan. He had tried to teleport right in front of Visage, but the gargoyle was fast enough to see this coming and fly even higher, leaving Magina in an awful place to be, but he had also noticed the familiars had to recharge its energy every few shots, and during that time they turned into immobile stone and fell to the ground gravely and loudly. There was a spot in that time to attack.

" I have watched the dead cross over for an eternity. Many have I seen pass below, and beyond: kings and tyrants, peasants and knights, creatures large and small" said the gargoyle, as it scanned the battleground looking for its prey.

" To oppose me is to deny death! Why do you think I fight, Magina? Treasures? The Underscape holds no such treasures! Pleasure? Never! Souls escaped from the maze and you are making this harder than it should be. I will recover those souls even if you stand on the way, Anti-Mage. I will return to my eternal vigil, that no more may escape. And you are asking to take you with me!"

Magina ran vigorously into the field of vision of the gargoyle, and Visage took the bait, sending both his familiars from opposing directions right to attack the monk. Some skilful manoeuvring and a single blink were enough to exhaust the limited power supply of the familiars, and, as he theorized, turned into stone and fell from the sky, enormous boulders of granite, crashing into the ground.

... and few seconds before that exact moment, Magina used one of them as steeping stone, and jumped at the gargoyle, which, as expected, flew with surprising speed up to put some ground between him and the Anti-Mage, who promptly teleported just ahead of him, breaking his escape router, and slashing away at the gargoyle, breaking pieces of the fabled floating armour made of runes that protected him, and finally, pulling him down from the air, towards the ground, as he stood over him during the fall, slashing away at the monster.

But his victory was short lived. A few meters before hitting the floor, he felt the sharp sting of a dagger between his shoulder blades, and a soft, feminine laughter as something grapple him with legs and arms, and finally a whisper "You seem to forget that this fight is not meant to be fair, my dear Anti-Mage".

He turned around to watch the seductive gaze of the succubus, Akasha, who licked his cheek, leaving a tingling sensation on his entire face, and managed to watch her open her mouth and felt a piercing shriek before he felt something akin to an enormous boulder hitting his head.

The gargoyle crashed against the ground painfully, the monk flew a dozen meters in a shower of blood and the succubus landed gracefully between them, her wings allowing her to stand on her feet softly right in the middle of the aftermath. Laughing, she announced "War it's never fair, Anti-Mage!".

Magina was dazed and all he could hear was a strong ring on his ears, completely deafened by the unnatural scream of the succubus. Besides, the knife on his back was deeply penetrating his muscles, making his attempts to rise futile, and a frighteningly free flowing river of blood came out of his ears and nose. Visage was as well badly wounded, trying repeatedly to get up and failing to even make his wings move, pieces of his runed armour scattered around him made him look like an almost dead animal, hit by a powerful gun and trying pointlessly to run away.

Akasha kicked the stone gargoyle's feet, making it fall down again, and stomped on its head "Stay down, you useless abomination. Let me finish this". If Visage had anything to say, he was wise to stay silent. The succubus produced a new dagger, and began walking towards the confused monk, who only then managed to locate her. He could hear her voice, but the rest was just incessant, maddening ringing. She crouched next to him, and said "It will be really nice to kill you, Magina. You've been a thorn on my back for far too long, your ridiculous crusade against magic has been always a pain to deal with. But finally, this is over. And I will make sure to take special pleasure on your death."


	7. Chapter 7

Running the fastest she could, Lyralei rode the forest like the wind she was blessed by. Her beautiful red hair seemed to fade into a brush stroke into an artistic impression and her green and yellow uniform blended extraordinarily well with the trees and bushes. She had run for maybe a couple of hours or so, effortlessly but relentlessly and it was all to deliver a message. Her bare feet barely made a noise and her speed and ability to stay undetected was priceless as a messenger despite her proficiency with the bow being unmatched except maybe by Traxxex, the reclusive Drow Ranger who hadn't really made contact in the last few months following a rather bitter encounter with a Dire strikeforce she refused to talk about, just leaving the cryptic message to "be careful when lightning hits you in the back instead of your head". Humble and faithful to the idea that the Radiant forces could stop the Dire from decimating life, she accepted her role as a support envoy, though always ready to engage the enemy.

She knew of the disturbances in the Silverglade forest, but what worried her was the lack of notices once the group of lieutenants was sent into the advance posts. There were reports about the dreaded pair of undead abominations laying siege to the guards, and Ezalor was extremely agitated about the fate of her allies. She was sent to deliver a message, to make contact and to help if things were out of control

Io is around. Try to contact him. Remember the void. The void might just be the key.

She was oblivious to the real meaning and she didn't dare question the Keeper of the Light. She just ran like the wind, eager to find out what had happened. And she wasn't alone. Up in the sky, flying with powerful winds, an aberration sped across the landslide but one she counted on without even thinking about it: Jakiro, the legendary two headed dragon, who was, curiously, supporting her, closely watching her back, unable to match her speed but the ability to fly had its perks. Jakiro was a majestic being, despite the impact it caused on people, and was a fierce warrior of the Radiant. He was eager to enter combat, but protecting Lyralei was more important now, and he understood that. And both heads agreed to keep watch, as the gigantic dragon soared the skies looking over the ranger.

Jakiro though, was more aware of the situation. He knew of the existence of the legendary forest wisp, one of the Fundamentals, who roamed the forest, seemingly guarding it since creation. Nobody had seen him, but the fables of the wisp were popular with children and storytellers. Jakiro didn't know what made him so powerful, but given that Ezalor needed him, he would comply. Ezalor wouldn't ask so desperately for someone less powerful than he was. Still, he resisted the urge to explain the Windrunner what was on stake here. She would deliver the message, and then, they would see what was to be done.

Suddenly, Lyralei screamed for him. A numerous contingent of footsoldiers were on their path. The Windrunner tracked back and jumped skillfully to the trees, and Jakiro flew lower to stay near the ranger and listen to her clearly.

"I don't know how many are there, but there are at least 50."

Jakiro laughed and said "you say that like it's a problem", while the second head laughed "we will freeze and burn!"

Jakiro could burn them all to the ground. Or freeze them and burn them. Or simply carry her to safety. However, Lyralei added "Crixalis is with them". This changed Jakiro's face instantly, and he reached his head to look ahead, and indeed, the Sand King was with the soldiers. They hadn't noticed them, but they were on a really tight spot, and, most importantly, the Sand King hadn't retreated yet.

Crixalis was the embodiment of the Scintillant Waste, a vast sentient desert, a genus loci that, teeming with life, a closed ecosystem, housed some of the most dangerous creatures. It changed shape, reached new locations, and acted as a giant entity, though sometimes it took form, a giant, vaguely humanoid scorpion. The Soul of the Sand was a dangerous opponent, as it was but a creature made of sand: it was just the physical form of the waste. They had faced him before many times, though they had driven him away via overwhelming numbers, but the Sand King simply refused to go back, for some Machiavellian reason, it still sided with the Dire, and kept coming again to the battle. It ran over the group of foot soldiers, headed towards the two Radiant lieutenants. Jakiro and Lyralei looked at each other: this was a golden opportunity. If they could deal with the Sand King, an important enemy would be out at least for a while. Lyralei smiled slightly, and jumped up to the top of the tree, while Jakiro bid his time.

The forest was calm, though the heat of the battle miles ahead could be heard if one tried very focused. Crixalis advanced proud, for some reason, even though they were getting away from the battle. It wasn't a retreat at all. Perhaps it was going to a rendezvous, and they were marching at full speed. The scorpion ran slightly faster than the contingent of soldiers, but it stopped every few meters to scout the area.

Lyralei had noticed it, and, timing to his head movie, she readied her bow and arrow, and tensed the string aiming at the desert monstrosity: just in the general direction, to distract him long enough for Jakiro to burn the place to Hell.

Finally, the time was right. She let go of the powerful string, and, faster than sound, the arrow flew straight at the head of the Sand King. It wasn't her idea, but if it fell down in one shot, it would be really, really good.

As the arrow broke the sound barrier, Jakiro rose from the trees, and breathed a column of freezing air, trapping almost all the warriors on its wake, and freezing the water particles in the air, effectively creating (and trapping inside it) a wall of ice, while it prepared to breathe out what was really frightening: the legendary liquid fire. However, as the forces struggle to move from their icy prisons, Lyralei realized the Sand King was not with them, and, suddenly, a violent sand storm broke out of the center of the enemy ranks and hit her in the face, dropping visibility down to zero. While she struggle to get out of it, she felt the tree she was standing on tremble, and it fell down without giving her time to react, sending him crashing through branches and hitting the floor with a painful thud. Fortunately, she managed to break away in time to avoid Crixalis massive pincers from smashing her in half, though she couldn't catch him, just watched him dig instantly into the floor and emerging next to the dragon in a flurry of bone spikes, taking the two headed lizard down to the floor.

"**BY THE DJINN OF QALDIN**"

The monster had taken a different position, and was hitting the ground with his tail, as if he was gathering power... which, Lyralei realized, probably was.

"**BY THE SCINTILLANT WASTE**"

The ground began to shake slowly in cressendo, and both Radiant warriors tried to get up, but both were stunned and slow to react.

"**GATHER SANDS!**" finally screamed the Sand King, and the ground began to violently quake on his wake, breaking in tectonic pulses centered on Crixalis, destroying everything on sight. Lyralei tried jumping towards the trees, but they were all breaking apart and falling to pieces, however the tireless Jakiro managed to grab her hand and pull her out of the earthquake, though the trembling still threw them down, though far enough to somehow stay on their feet. The Sand King had turned and was running towards them, but the Radiant pair managed to react on time, and the Windrunner focused and sent a powerful shot towards the monster, once again breaking the sound barrier through the earthquake, while Jakiro rose and began spitting his most fearsome weapon, the fabled Macropyre, as he laid down a lava-like liquid made carpet of boiling lava, covering the Sand King in fire while it screamed in pain, though relentless on its pursue as the arrow hit him straight on the arm, sending places of its armor-like chitinous plate that covered him.

Then, once again, Lyralei lost track of her target. The Windrunner took this as a sign to move out, and jumped out of the way instinctively just in time to avoid the bone shards that signaled the rise of the Sand King, who dug out of the ground still over the Macropyre, and pulled the Twin Headed dragon down to the ground, smashing him with great force, preparing to hit him with his powerful pincers once again.

Lyralei had but a split second to act, and she did: she took out a thick rope out of her quill, a specially built rope with an arrowhead, and with the speed of wind, shoot it at Crixalis, shackling him and pushing him back tying him to one of the very few trees that were still standing, an old enormous oak that croaked loudly as the monstruous scorping crashed against it, but it stood strong. She ran towards the dragon, who was slowly rising to his feet, catching his breath.

"Are you okay, Jakiro?" she asked, out of customs.

"I'm fine, Windrunner. You should go and complete the mission. I can hold him."

Lyralei gasped audibly. The Twin Headed Dragon was a powerful creature, vastly powerful and cunning, but the Sand King was a _sentient desert_. Were they evenly matched? She did not know the answer, but she knew he was right: the mission was more important. The Sand King was struggling to break the ropes and he would, pretty quickly.

Still, she was a warm person, and her heart felt every death on this war. And Jakiro was more than an ally to her, he could even be her friend. But yes. He was right. Cradling both of the Dragon's heads, she held them for a second, before running like the wind at the outpost.

Both heads followed her away, and then turned towards the struggling monster.

Crixalis finally broke from his ropes, and hit the tree out of frustration, knowing the ranged had got away. He then turned towards the dragon, breathing deliberately and slowly, keeping his four eyes on the flying lizard. The two forces of nature ran at each other and clashed in a mortal embrance, struggling to get the better of the other, as Jakiro tried to bite Crixalis and the Sand King tried to bury his sting on the Twin Headed Dragon.

Lyralei turned her head to watch the two titans fighting for dominance, and deep inside she felt a weird feeling on her chest. Jakiro was strong. And she hoped he would be strong enough.


End file.
